Knitting device and method of knitting



March 30, 1937. 1.. M. MILLER KNITTING DEVICE AND METHOD OF KNITTING Filed July 22, '1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mm ianMMiller March 30, 1937. 1.. M. MILLER 2,075,621

KNITTING DEVICE AND METHOD OF KNITTING Filed July 22, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 flllllllllllf filliddMMillr m rial after the Patented Mar. 30, 1937 PATENT or-rlcs KNITTING DEVICE AND METHOD KNITTING Lillian M. Miller, Fort Harrison, Mont.

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in knitting devices, the device consisting of a hollow shaft open at one end and having a hook resembling a crochet hook at the other end, and a pointed shaft resembling a knitting needle. The objects of the improvements are, first,.to provide a hook on one of the needles to aid in manipulating the yarn or thread as the knitted material is worked from the plain needle on to the hooked shaft, and, second, to provide a means of easily and quickly transferring the knitted material from the hooked shaft back to the plain needle, after the knitted material has been completely worked from the plain needle to the hooked shaft.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a novel means of fitting the knitting needle within such a crocheting needle; to provide -a hollow crocheting needle adapted to hold the knitting needle without frictional engagement therebstween; to provide a novel method of knitting hereinafter described; to provide a method by which knitting and crocheting may becombined; to provide devices which will facilitate knitting and will enable a beginner to leamit more quickly than ordinary knitting. l'. attain these and other objects of my invention by means illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of in the operation of knitting, in which a casting on stitches on the needle to knit;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the operator in the act of knitting with my knitting device;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the knitted mateloops have been worked from the left-hand needle to the right-hand needle;

Fig. d is a side elevation view of my devices;

Fig. 5 is a view partly in side elevation and partly longitudinal section of my hollow crocheting type needle;

Fig. 6 is a needle;

Fig. '7 is an elevational my two knitting needles with the knitted held. entirely on one needle as is the outset of knitting each row;

Fig. 8 is a similar view with the material being gradually worked from the knitting type needle to the crocheting type needle;

Fig. 9 is a similar\view of the needles after all the loops have been worked from the left-hand needle to the right-hand needle;

Fig. 10 is a similar view with the needles longitudinally aligned and ready for the knitting type of needle to be inserted in the crocheting type of needle; J

person is side elevation of my knitting type view (reduced size), of material being done at knitted material the initial step- The loop from the Application July 22, 1936, Serial No.91,882

Fig. 11 is 'a similar view after the knittin needle has been inserted into the crocheting type of needle;

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 10, after the has been transferred from the crocheting type of needle to the knitting type of needle; and

Fig. 13 is a similar view of the needles in .position to proceed with the knitting.

Like numerals designate like drawings in each of the several views.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I provide a knitting type of needle I, having a flat, disk-like cap orhead member 2 at one end and having the usual -tapered point 3 at the other end. I provide a hollow crocheting type of needle 4 having a chamber 5 extending nearly the entire length of the needle and stopping just short of the hook 6. The numeral I designates a strand of yarn in the process of being knitted and the numeral 8 designates loops formed 'on a needle in the process of knitting. I In knitting in the conventional way. the material being knitted is held first entirely on one needle. The material ,is gradually worked over to the other needle by forming new loops; this is done by slipping the pointed end of the needle held in the right hand through the first loop of yarn on the needle in the left hand, throwing the yarn over the point of the right ,hand needle, twisting the needle to draw through-the yarn, thus forming a new loop on the right hand needle. left hand needle is dropped. have been worked from the right hand needle, the

After all the loops left hand needle to'the needles are then changed to the same procedure is 'repeated. It should be noted that the yarn always feeds in at the points 4 of the needles and runs from one side of the knitted material to the other as the knitting progresses. A most tiresome feature of knitting is due to the fact that the two needle points must be placed together and one hand used to throw the yarn over the two ends to make a loop, and the needle twisted so as to form a new loop. This continuous throwing over of the yarn is tiresome. In the so-called German method used in knitting, the end of the yarn is held to the left and the needle is twisted around deftly so; as to pull the loop through with the end of the needle, but this requires great dexterity and is more diflicult to learn. My knitting devices eliminatethe tiresome throwing over of the yarn and twisting of the right hand needle. They not only make knitting faster and easier but enable one .to

opposlte'hands and 6 combine crocheting and knitting and permit greater variety of designs than would be possible with either alone.

. The-feeding in of the yarn always takes place at the pointed ends of the knitting needles. In my methodgaby casting on the stitches on the plain needle first, these stitches can be worked over on the hook needle, using said hook to manipulate theyarn.- When thematerialisall worked on to the hook needle, the operator can not simply change needles from hand tohand as in regular knitting. In this method the "two needles are different, while in ordinary knitting the needles are exactly alike, been worked from the plainneedle needle the knitted material must be on the plain needle again. I have changing the needle back to to thhook knitted material from the hook the plain needle is preferable to interchanging the ends of the needles or other means which are features of devices of the prior art. This transfer of knitted material is quickly and easily accomplished by the knitting devices which I have designed and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, comprising a hollow shaft opening at one end and having a crochet type hook at the other end and a needle resembling an ordinary knitting needle and of such size that it may be fitted smoothly and snugly into the hollow part of the hollow shaft, but not retained by friction.

In my method of knitting with this apparatus, the material is held first on the plain needle I as 7. Using the hook to manipulate on to the hooked Then the plain needle I is thrust into the chamber 5 of the hooked needle 4, as in Figs. 10 and 11. Then by grasping the hooked needle at the hook being pulled out of the hooked needle at the same time. The knitted material is thus transferred from the hooked needle to the plain needle as in Fig. 12. Then all is ready to repeat the knitting process, as in Fig. 13. This procedure is repeated over and over until the knitted article is com- Pleted. Changing the knitted material from the iii ' able than the device hooked needle to theplain needle can be accomplished quicklyand easily.

While devices have heretofore been invented aimed at accomplishing the same results as my apparatus, they do it-in a different way and lack both needles would not allow a satisfactory operation. The hook is needed on the manipulating or active needle but a hook on the other needle yarn slipping off the end. I have-devised hooked caps or sleeves to be interchangeably fitted over the ends of knitting needles. These devices are, however, less desirdisclosed in the accompanying drawings. As the pointed end of the needle must remain smooth and pointed so that it can still be used as a knitting needle when the sleeve is transferred to the other'needle, no fastening device can be placed on it successfully. Therefore the sleeve of such a cap must be retained by friction. It must fit tight enough so that it will stay on during knitting but not so tight that it cannot be easily removed when necessary. This exactness is very hard to obtain in an article therefore, after the material has.

placed back found that".

which must be made cheaply. It is most difficult to manufacture cheaply a frictionally retained sleeve that will stay in place while knitting without wobbling, getting. out of line, or slipping 01!. Furthermore, it is diiiicult to devise a frictionally retained sleeve that will give long service. Rubber linings are impractical. Also such attachments for knitting needles would have to be made for many different sizes of needles and needles are also made of different materials such as, steel, aluminum alloys, celluloid and wood. Also a difference in diameter of such a cap or sleeve and of the uncovered portion of the body of the knitting needle would interfere with itssatlsfactory As illustrative of possible (but less desirable) means for carrying out my process of knitting, I

could provide a needle having a stud on the end of which a knitting needle and a crochet needle cap or sleeve could be interchangeably mounted, or I could provide needles having a threaded stud on which a hook sleeve or cap having a cokespondingly threaded socket could be interchangeably mounted.

My device as illustrated in the drawings has several substantial advantages over the modifications suggested. The hollow shaft of the crochet type of needle is of uniform diameter throughout and the knitting type of needle slides easily in and out of it without requiring a frictional engagement or the accurate-machining of the parts which are necessary to secure frictional engagement between the needle and the hollow shaft, and which is an undesirable feature of devices of the prior art.

, My knitting needle is easily placed in the hollow shaft 5, and is easily removed from the shaft,

since it is not retained by friction, it does not have the undesirable features of a frictionally retained sleeve. It will give long service and will not wear out after a few hours knitting as would ordinary knitting needles.

By mymethod of knitting, new designs are possible and this fact alone would attract the attention of omen who knit or crochet. The method of ri ing-my knitting devices is as easy to learn as the conventional methodof knitting,

and is faster and less tiresome to perform. ,Everything that can be done with ordinary knitting needles can be done with thisdevice, as well as everything that can be done with crocheting needles; also crocheting and knitting can be combined easily andeifectively in the same article.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the type described, the combination of a knitting needle having a tapered end, a crochet type needle having a hollow shaft open at one end and of suitable size to hold the knitting needle without frictional contact between the surface of the needle and theinside surface of the hollow shaft, the knittingjheedle being easily removable, and being only of substantially the same length as the hollow shaft in which it is removably mounted.

2. Knitting devices, comprising a. knitting needle, a hollow shaft of length as the length of the knitting needle, said hollow shaft being open at one end and closed at the bther end, the closed end having a crochet type hook, and a knitting needle of suitable size substantially the same to be snugly, but removably fitted in the hollow shalt and without frictional engagement therewith.

3. A method for performing knitting consisting in using a knitting needle and a hollow crochet needle, transferring the knitted material from the knitting needle to the crochet needle, transferring the knitted material from the crochet needle by longitudinally aligning said needles and partially telescoping them, and transferring the work from the crochet needle to the knitting needle, and repeating the transfer 01' the work from the knitting needle to the crochet needle loop by loop I and repeating the operation, and continuing the above described process until the needle work is completed.

ULLIAN IL mum 

